White House

With this, we’re now officially past the “orderly transition” phase of nudge-nudging. Last night, Obama issued a brief public statement that included just one line about a prospective deadline for Mubarak’s exit from power: “My belief is that an orderly transition must be meaningful, must be peaceful and it must begin now,” Obama said. But White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was more explicit Wednesday. “‘Now’ means ‘yesterday,’” Gibbs explained. […]

From The BAZ File: For the Obama administration catching up with the uprising in Egypt is like chasing a runaway locomotive on a bicycle. From its initial public support for doomed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak to its need to appear to be hands-off, the White House is saddled with an event it fears will end in a train wreck. President Obama had a chance tonight to outright derail criticism that […]

We first heard a couple of weeks ago that Jay Carney was on the Short List. Today sources Confirmed that Obama’s Pick is Carney. Now, Politico outright says so. President Barack Obama has settled on Jay Carney, communications director for Vice President Joe Biden and former Washington bureau chief for TIME magazine, to replace Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary, administration officials said. An announcement was planned for Thursday […]

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is seriously considering leaving his job as President Barack Obama’s chief spokesman – a move that would allow him to work on Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and act as a media surrogate for the president, according to sources. Gibbs has not finalized his decision and senior administration officials have yet to decide on a successor to the fiery 39-year-old Alabama native, a pit bull […]

The top White House economic adviser warned lawmakers Sunday that the United States faces a catastrophe if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling, as spend-averse Republicans indicated they’d be willing to support the increase so long as certain conditions are met. The debt ceiling debate is one of the first major legislative clashes on tap as lawmakers return to Washington this coming week for the start of the 112th […]

President Obama is planning the first major reorganization of his administration, preparing to shuffle several positions in the West Wing as he tries to fortify his political team for the realities of divided government and his own re-election. The president is studying how to maximize the power of the executive branch, advisers said, seeking insight from veterans of previous administrations and fresh advice from business leaders to guide the second […]

Today’s narrow ruling in Virginia on the constitutionality of a provision of the Affordable Care Act is just one of many recent rulings on similar cases that have come down in recent months. Since the law passed, opponents of reform have filed more than 20 different legal challenges. Judges have already granted the Administration’s motion to dismiss 12 of these cases. And in two cases, federal judges looked at the […]

Obama and the Democrats old stand bye for when things don’t go as they wanted. Bushes Fought! Though some critics and observers are suggesting the Ghailani verdict — he was acquited of all but one of more than 280 charges — weakens the president’s call for civilian criminal trials for Guantanamo detainees, a senior administration official pushes back: “He was convicted by a jury of a count which carries a […]

The Interior Department‘s inspector general says the White House edited a drilling safety report in a way that made it falsely appear that scientists and experts supported the idea of the administration’s six-month ban on new drilling. The inspector general says the editing changes resulted “in the implication that the moratorium recommendation had been peer reviewed.” But it hadn’t been. The scientists were only asked to review new safety measures […]

The New York Times confirms that Rahm Emanuel will be stepping down as chief of staff, and reports: Mr. Obama plans to name Pete Rouse, a senior adviser, to replace Mr. Emanuel, two officials confirmed. Mr. Rouse has been at the president’s side since Mr. Obama arrived in Washington nearly six years ago as a senator, serving as his chief of staff. via The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : NYT: […]